SBBS: Day 07 ~ Jill Hathaway

Spring Break Blog Spectacular: Day 07 ~ Jill Hathaway Interview & Slide (release day!) Review


Today's guest is author Jill Hathaway. Jill's debut novel Slide is released today (Happy Release Day to Jill and Slide!) - I have an interview with Jill as well as an review of Slide. Enjoy!

While I'm not hosting a giveaway today, there's one on Goodreads (US only) that ends 30th April :-) and here on her blog (today only) that's international!


Interview:



Ideal Spring Break destination: ski chalet or tropical beach villa? 
Ski chalet

In high school/college which was more likely: spotting you on MTV’s Spring Break or just you and your friends enjoying the week off? The week off

What was your favorite Spring Break ever (why and/or where)?  I went on a Disney Cruise; it was awesome!

Fly and have the fun be at the destination or road trip and have the journey be at least half the fun? 
Definitely road trip!

Do your characters in Slide take Spring Break trips? Nope!

Where would their ideal Spring Break destination be? (Together or on their own.) London

Which of your characters (in Slide or anything else you might be working on ;)) would you most have liked to have met on a Spring Break trip? 
Rollins, of course. ;)

Best book to read on Spring Break or a road trip? Anything by Stephen King

Thanks for having me!!!
Thank you, Jill :)

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Slide Review:

Slide (Slide #1)
Balzer + Bray
March 27, 2012
256 pages
add to Goodreads/buy on Amazon/or Book Depository


Vee knows something that she can't possibly explain to anyone why she knows.

Everyone else thinks Sylvia "Vee" Bell is narcoleptic, but she doesn't really fall asleep during her episodes. When it looks to everyone else like she's just asleep or unconscious, she's really 'sliding.'  Vee slides into someone else's mind and experiences things through their eyes.

That's why she knows that her sister's friend didn't kill herself; she was murdered. Vee slid into the killer as they stood over the girl's sladhed body, bloody knife in hand.

It's a terrible secret to keep, but how can he possibly tell anyone? Even her best friend, Rollins, has been distant lately - ever since she started spending time with Zane, the new kid.

With things getting more dangerous by the day, Vee needs to find a way to reveal the killer . . . before they can kill again.


Slide is one of those books where you wish it was longer because you hate for it to end but you're almost thankful it's not because you can't put it down until it's over (and other things totally need to get done that day). It's a fantastic mystery that gets more and more suspenseful and complicated as it goes on.

The characters aren't left by the wayside in favor of the mystery, though. They are just as strong - if not more - than the mystery of who the killer is and what's happening (or going to possibly happen). We learn a lot about Vee during the book; she's a very complex and sympathetic character. Vee and Mattie's mother died several years prior to the start of the novel and I liked that their feeling about her, about missing her, and how they and their father were now living life were still reflective of their grief but not overwhelmed by it. I also loved that Mattie wasn't just a sister who was just there she really grew as a character, too.

There was a plot element/point that was figured out by me (and likely by other readers) quite a lot sooner than it was by Vee. I'm not sure if it was supposed to have been - at least not as soon as it was - or not, but it didn't detract from things much. It wasn't anything major nor did it ruin any part of the mystery.

At first I thought there might be a bit of a dichotomy with Vee's love of astronomy and her sliding, with one being so scientific and proven and the other being so, well, not scientific or proven. The way her love of the constellations, etc was introduced and used, however, makes it work. And makes their coexistence as part of Vee understandable - even rather great.

Rating: 9/10

thank you to Harper for my arc for review

my soundtrack meme-y thing has all but gone away, but here are some songs for Slide: Last Kiss ~ Pearl Jam; The Freshman ~ Verve Pipe; Iris ~ Goo Goo Dolls

Other book(s) you might like: Fracture by Megan Miranda and The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting


find Slide on  Goodreads, on Amazon, or Book Depository, or the trailer on YouTube (or here in my post)
and Jill Hathway on Goodreads, her blog, @JillScribbles


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Would you slide into someone if you could? Already have someone in mind?

And/or since Slide has me wanting to revisit some of that 90s music I do love so much . . . why do we not have that kind of perfect rock music now? Or pop either? I miss 90s music /tangent Do you have a favorite 90s song?